End of Summer Songs & Opinions on Angel Olsen
With lyrics about sun, surf, and young love, there are plenty of songs that welcome in the summer. But how do you musically say goodbye to warm weather and prepare for the fall? Jim and Greg swap their swim trunks for their sweaters and share their favorite End of Summer Songs.
End of Summer Songs
Labor Day Weekend is here and it's the last gasp of days at the pool, outdoor barbecues and fun in the sun. As fall starts to set in we say goodbye to the sunny season with our End of the Summer playlist.
Greg
- James Brown, "September Song"
- Donna Summer, "Autumn Changes"
- Weekend, "Coma Summer"
- Cousteau, "The Last Good Day Of The Year"
Jim
- Neil Young, "Sugar Mountain"
- Death Cab for Cutie, "Summer Skin"
- Rod Stewart, "Maggie May"
- Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, "Summer Wine"
Listener Picks
- Laura from Melbourne: Don Henley, "The Boys of Summer"
- Todd from Chicago: Grandaddy, "Summer... It’s Gone"
- Pat from Albuquerque: Beat Happening, "Indian Summer"
- Nathan from Chicago: The Afghan Whigs, "Summer’s Kiss"
My Woman Angel Olsen
My Woman is Angel Olsen's second album for Jagjaguwar, following 2014's acclaimed Burn Your Fire for No Witness. The Asheville-via-St. Louis-and-Chicago singer-songwriter is working now with producer Justin Raisen, known for more pop-oriented work for Sky Ferreira and Charli XCX. But Greg says that rather than introduce a pop sheen, Olsen uses Raisen to bring out the drama in her songs. From touches of goth and glam rock, Greg is hearing moves Olsen has never used before. He loves that her complicated and disconcerting lyrics are brought to the forefront. Jim agrees that Olsen is fantastic at confronting difficult emotions in her lyrics. And he loves the unique ambience of her records – he places Angel Olsen's work in the shortlist for best uses of reverb of all time. It's a double Buy It from both critics.
Featured Songs
- Neil Young, "Sugar Mountain," Sugar Mountain – Live at Canterbury House 1968, Reprise, 1968
- James Brown, "September Song," Soul On Top, King, 1970
- Death Cab For Cutie, "Summer Skin," Plans, Barsuk, 2005
- Donna Summer, "Autumn Changes," Four Seasons of Love, Casablanca, 1976
- The Magnetic Fields, "Love Is Lighter Than Air," Get Lost, Merge, 1995
- John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, "Summer Nights," Grease: The Original Soundtrack from the Motion Picture, RSO, 1978
- Don Henley, "The Boys of Summer," Building the Perfect Beast, Geffen, 1984
- Grandaddy, "Summer... It's Gone," Just Like the Fambly Cat, V2, 2006
- Rod Stewart, "Maggie May," Every Picture Tells a Story, Mercury, 1971
- Weekend, "Coma Summer," Sports, Slumberland, 2010
- Dusty Springfield, "Summer is Over," Dusty, Phillips, 1964
- Crooked Fingers, "Sleep All Summer," Dignity and Shame, Merge, 2005
- Beat Happening, "Indian Summer," Jamboree, K, 1988
- The Afghan Whigs, "Summer's Kiss," Black Love, Elektra, 1996
- Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, "Summer Wine," Nancy & Lee, Reprise, 1967
- Cousteau, "Last Good Day of the Year," Cousteau, Global Warming, 1998
- Angel Olsen, "Shut Up Kiss Me," My Woman, Jagjaguwar, 2016
- Angel Olsen, "Not Gonna Kill You," My Woman, Jagjaguwar, 2016
- Angel Olsen, "Woman," My Woman, Jagjaguwar, 2016
- Angel Olsen, "Pops," My Woman, Jagjaguwar, 2016
- Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley, "Pure Imagination," Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, Paramount, 1971
- The Lawrence Arms, "On With the Show," The Greatest Story Ever Told, Fat Wreck Chords, 2003
- The New Radicals, "You Get What You Give," Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too, MCA, 1998
- The Roots, "Stomp," Undun, Def Jam, 2011
- Tangerine Dream, "Betrayal (Sorcerer Theme)," Sorcerer, MCA, 1977
- Savage & Spies, "Lindsay's Escape," The Human Centipede, SoundCloud, 2009
Dear Listeners,
For more than 15 years, Sound Opinions was a production of WBEZ, Chicago's public radio station. Now that the show is independent, we're inviting you to join the band and lend a hand! We need your support more than ever because now we have to do all the behind-the-scenes work that WBEZ handled before (like buying insurance and paying for podcast hosting, ugh). Plus, we have some exciting ideas we'd like to try now that there's no one to tell us no!